Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.(Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last.(Friends of Israel Initiative)

Sunday, 12 June 2011

It's Lush, It's Green - And It's Frothing Against Israel

It's lush and green - like this park in Gaza (all these photos are of Gaza, as will be obvious at a glance, since they depict the misery and squalor that characterise that famous teeming "open prison," right?)

But it's not the park I refer to - it's a soap and cosmetics company in the UK called Lush, which has retail outlets in various parts of the country. Lush, which also operates elsewhere, prides itself on its ethical approach to current issues of all sorts - animal, vegetable, and mineral.

And as far as many of them are concerned, I find them hard to fault. After all, well ahead of the trend, I became a vegetarian when a nipper. (Yep - I've stayed one ever since.)

On political issues Lush has advocated some rather extreme leftist platforms (for instance on immigration) that reflect the Green Party.

And now it's firmly fixed its colours to the Palestinian mast with a statement on its website that says:

"This month we have the exciting opportunity to help secure a UK chart position for a song called ‘Freedom for Palestine’ by a collective of musicians called OneWorld. The aim of the song is to raise awareness of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the resulting poverty and other human rights abuses....

The catastrophe facing the Palestinian people is one of the defining global justice issues of our time. A third generation of Palestinian children is now being brought up in refugee camps inside and outside Palestine, living in chronic poverty and denied the right to return to their family homes. Hundreds of thousands more Palestinians suffer discrimination over access to public services, land rights and employment within Israel itself. For those living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the situation is critical. Israel's siege of Gaza has condemned its 1.5 million inhabitants to levels of poverty more commonly associated with sub-Saharan Africa - a humanitarian disaster with no end in sight.

All the above actions are illegal under international law. Yet no Western government has been willing to call Israel to account for its crimes. Instead, the US, UK and other governments have consistently rewarded Israeli aggression with economic benefits and closer political ties. This is why it is up to ordinary people around the world to take action."

It goes on to explain:

"If OneWorld are successful at getting the song in the charts, the mainstream media will find it hard to ignore it or censor its message. This will raise awareness and help to give confidence to people to speak up for Palestine. And it would send a message to the UK government, and all those who lend economic support or political cover to Israel that a critical mass of people want to see an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the oppression of its people."

Predictably, Israel-delegitimising groups are crowing on their websites about Lush and its pimping this song.

Aussie political blogger Andrew Landeryou has some forthright criticisms of both Lush, its statements regarding the "occupation of Palestine," and the song's lyrics, which he reproduced as follows (emphasis his):

So many years of catastrophe, more than six million refugees, it could be you and your family,
Forced from your home and your historyWe are the people, and this is our time,
Stand up, sing out, for Palestine
No matter your faith or community, this is a crime against humanity, Gaza turned into a prison camp, apartheid wall divides the West Bank We are the people, and this is our time,
Stand up, sing out, for Palestine, We’ll break down the wall, Freedom for Palestine
Demand Justice for all, Freedom For Palestine Enough illegal occupation, violence and racial segregation,all religious communities unite,

Freedom is a human right,
We are the people, and this is our time,
Stand up, sing out, for Palestine,
We’ll break down the wall, Freedom for Palestine
Demand Justice for all, Freedom For Palestine(solo on the Oud) (rap section)We are the people, and this is our time,
Stand up, sing out, for Palestine,
We’ll break down the wall, Freedom for Palestine
Demand Justice for all, Freedom For Palestine(repeat X5)
We are the people, this is our time, unite together, for justice in Palestine.

This pretty much sums up their deplorable disingenuous strategy. When you think of sub-Saharan poverty or "poverty worse than Rwanda" you think of the images of starving African children living in straw houses whilst wasting away beneath unrelenting heat whilst flies make themselves at home on the - yet if one were to actually look at Gaza you would see it's actually a rather beautiful place with an Olympic swimming pool, luxury malls, quality universities, vibrant markets, shops that accept credit cards, up market clubs and restaurants, and these people have the nerve to compare Gaza to sub-Saharan Africa?!

It is true that there is a unique issue with unemployment (worsened by the intifada which was their doing) and people living below the national poverty line in Gaza however they continue to have some of the highest living standards amongst their peers in terms of child mortality rates, malnourishment rates (similar to UK), life expectancy and they even have weight problems which rival/eclipse some European countries.

In fact 65% and 55% of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in the UK respectively. Is it fair or right to claim/allude to the notion that these communities are living in conditions similar to sub-Saharan Africa or is it fair to compare them at all with sub-Saharan Africa? Not at all.

My complaint to Lush has had a small impact because they have now removed the statement on the web page about Palestinians experiencing "levels of poverty more commonly associated with sub-Saharan Africa". But the changes have probably made it even worse. See an update here:

I thought you might like to see my correspondence with LushUK on this Issue. I should point out that Lush Australia, though tainted by this association with terrorists, has no plans to run such a campaign and is in fact independent re campaigns and manufacturing (as I understand it) from LUsh UK. THey are still the same co. of course.

If you know any Brits please show them this and ask them to stop buying LUsh until they remove this disgusting propaganda from their website.. Thank you.

MY CORRESPONDENCE WITH LUSH UK:

Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:45:10 +0000To: Gina WalkerSubject: Lush Palestine campaign group Friends of Al Aqsa ans PSC do not think Hamas are terroristsHello Gina,please FWD this to Sophie Pritchard. The Friends of al Aqsa is a group supporting the Palestine campaign on the Lush website.Their leader Ismail Patel on Hamas:“Hamas is no terrorist organisation. The reason they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated, occupied by the Israeli state, and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel.”… the same Friends of Al-Aqsa who have published Azzam Tamimi, a man who supports suicide bombing , and states in the Friends of Al-Aqsa journal:[T]he weakness of the Arabs and Muslims is only temporary and will sometime in the future be reversed. Evidently, the Muslim world is witnessing a massive awakening that is destined to initiate the transformation from weakness to strength. When the Arabs and Muslims’ gain of strength and confidence coincides with the retreat of the World Order due to the shrinkage of the material and military resources available to it and as a result of the augmentation of domestic crises, the end of the Zionist project will come and the State of Israel will be no more.Friends of Al-Aqsa are also happy to publish articles referring to ‘Jewish Nazism’, and claiming that ‘Israel simply represents the Nazis of our time’ and ‘the powerful Jewish media … more or less controls the public discourse in many western nations’.from: http://hurryupharry.org/2010/09/27/ed-miliband-and-friends-of-al-aqsa/[Sarah Colborne, Palestine Solidarity Campaign] was asked whether she denounced Hamas for their call to kill Jews in their Charter (Article 7 ). She replied: “I will not engage with you.”…not denouncing a proudly virulently anti-Semitic organisation like Hamas is, apparently, just fine.If Sarah or Betty Hunter or anyone from the Palestine Campaign wishes, at any stage, to denounce Hamas after reading Article Seven of its Charter then please get in touch and I will publish any response on this blog.Article Seven states:…….the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).These are just a couple of examples. Lush in my mind, and now in the minds of many others, is not just regarded as tools of genocidal killers but as wilful assistants to murder.I hope your Campaign Director will reconsider Lush’s association with these groups and turn the attention of Lush to the many good causes not sponsored by terrorists and their groupies.kind regardsJ

Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:54:41 +0100From: sophie.pritchard@lush.co.ukTo: jSubject: Re: FW: Lush Palestine campaign group Friends of Al Aqsa ans PSC do not think Hamas are terroristsDear J,Thank you for your emails to Gina, which she has forwarded to me.The history between Israel and Palestine is long, complicated and often under dispute. However, what is very clear is the level of suffering occurring today, in part due to the construction of the wall which is cutting Palestinian people off from vital health services and has dramatically increased poverty in the area. History does not excuse such suffering. It will take both sides to come to a solution, but what is also clear is that this is not a conflict of two equal sides and thus the onus must be on the dominating force, Israel. The OneWorld project is supported by both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and aims to help create peace for both sides. Best wishes,Sophie

Sophie PritchardCharitable Giving ManagerLush18-20 Market StreetPooleBH15 1NF*********Hello Sophie,thank you for replying to me.It may interest you to know that your reply is the exact copy of one which Vicky Jansson, your Customer Care Manager, gave toEdgar Davidson of http://www.edgar1981.blogspot.com. He has detailed his correspondence on his blog regarding this entire sad affair.http://edgar1981.blogspot.com/2011/06/response-from-lush-it-gets-worse.htmlYOu clearly absorbed nothing from our discussion, and have very obviously not read a single bit of information I sent you.I would dismiss you as just another clueless type except for several things:-YOu know perfectly well who War on Want are, as you said to me in our discussion. The fact that they werre investigated by the UK Charities Commission does not seem to worry you at all.-You have forever tainted your employer’s company with the stench of terrorism and murder, and the faint shadow of the Nazis, who wanted to murder the Jews, and were helped by the Grand Mufti of Palestine, for me, a former customer of the company.BY so doing, you have shown very clearly that::you do not “care” about your brief or your company:you do not “care” about your customers:you do not “care” about your or your company’s associations, all of which have been clearly and simply detailed as terrorism supporters/anti Israel bigots.:you do not “care” about the consequences of your actions in supporting these people, whoemphatically do NOT support “both sides.”I do not expect you or any other person approached by proPalestinian groups to have followed the “complexities” – otherwise known as Islamic Jihad against Jews and Christians – of the Middle East.I do, however, expect that when a company professing to support charity is shown that they have inadvertently allowed themselves tobe drawn into supporting terrorist gangsters with their customers’ money, that they take it, their mistake and their company associations seriously.YOu have not taken it seriously, and expect me to be fobbed off with a cheap form reply. (Or maybe you got an assistant to cut and paste it from a form by V. Jansson).I sincerely hope you – or rather, your COMPANY – thrills at being a direct supporter of terrorism by a group- Hamas- that is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, that is very active suipporting and facilitating terrorism in the UK, along with a whole bunch of others, every one of which wants to exterminate Jews and dominate convert and kill non-Muslims. The UK has and will continue to suffer the effects of these jihadis. Indeed, there are many Brits who fled the UK for Australia specifically because of it.Good luck with that!I have sent a copy of this email to the CEO of Lush Australia. J

Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 From: sophie.pritchard@lush.co.ukTo: jSubject: Re: RE: Lush Palestine campaign group Friends of Al Aqsa and PSC do not think Hamas are terroristsDear J,Thank you for your email. I sent our standard response to you as it explains why we support the OneWorld campaign. I would also like to make clear that we do not condone violence. I have read all your emails and listened to you for some time on the phone and feel I have given you ample opportunity to express how you feel. However, I don’t feel it is a good use of your time or mine to discuss the issue further since it is clear we don’t agree. Thanks for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. Best wishes,Sophie(Tuesday, 21 June 2011)Dear Sophie,I’m glad you don’t condone violence.Unfortunately the people you support actively condone and use violence, and by your support of them you enable their violence and finance it directly.I agree with you that further discussion between us will probably not help. While the cause – Islamic jihad – of the ME conflict is actually quite simple, the ramifications are complex.You who live in the UK, and in fact every country containing Muslims, will have AMPLE opportunity to ponder and absorb these ramifications, most of which, are in fact, horribly violent.RegardsJ

Good for Lush! I'm glad to hear they're making a stand against the terrorists who run the government of Israel. This just makes me even more likely to purchase their fine products which I have enjoyed for years.

And before the comments about antisemitism start, let me state that I am Jewish, and proud of my heritage. That doesn't mean that I'm blind to the obvious (to everyone but Israel, the United States and Zionist fanatics) fact that the government of Israel is quite evil.

Shalom and Welcome to my blog!I'm the little Aussie blogger who took the screenshot and broke the story of Stephen Sizer's notorious 9/11 post, and I've since broken two other stories that subsequently went viral, one Australia-wide and one, thanks to the sterling work of two other bloggers, worldwide. I remain very surprised and very honoured to have been co-winner, Best Pro-Israel Blog, Hasby Awards, 2013Please "Like" me on Facebook; my Facebook page ishere

In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel ... is different.... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights.... Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what is right about the Middle East. Bibi Netanyahu (20 Iyar 5771; 24 May 2011)Scroll to end for more quotations

Tired of anti-Balfour agitprop?

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Balfour and Beyond

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BDS is Antisemitic

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The Bigotry & Immorality of BDS

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"Selling a house to a Jew is a betrayal of Allah"

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Maps of Mendacity & Mischief

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These misleading maps were deliberately prepared to date from 1946 – intentionally papering over the momentous events that had occurred between 1917 and 1945. Attempts to unravel binding precepts of international law established between 1917 and 1945 – and failing to insist on their being upheld and enforced – has a lot to do with the sorry situation the world finds itself in today.David Singer (2016)

How They Twist the Truth!

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Jews have re-assumed the role of the canary in the mine and are the first to be targeted, but the world would face the same threat if Jews did not exist. Israel has been at the front lines confronting Islamic extremism but has received scant support... For Jews, the writing has been on the wall for a long time. The virulence of the antisemitic hatred closing in on Jews in Europe (and elsewhere) is horrifying... Europe is today facing a crisis as serious as the confrontation with Nazism. If Western leaders continue behaving like Chamberlain and fail to stand up to this global threat, it could usher in a new Dark Age in which the Judeo-Christian culture is subsumed by primitive barbarism. The writing is on the wall Isi Leibler (12 January 2015)

Expose The Lies!

There is a war of lies and deceit on the internet generating unbelievable hate by denigrating and delegitimising the legal rights conferred on the Jewish people by the League of Nations in 1922 and the United Nations in 1945. The idea that there are two narratives on the Arab-Jewish conflict is rubbish. There is only one – the factual truth that details the return of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in its ancient biblical, ancestral and historic homeland after 3500 years of dispersion with the unanimous endorsement of the nation states then comprising the League of Nations.... Generals can’t fight a war without soldiers. Jews around the world need to join the fight or vacate the internet to the Jew-haters and their lies that repeated often enough eventually become accepted as truth.David Singer (2016)

Exposing Lies

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The "Apartheid" Slur

The division of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into three separate areas “A”, “B” and “C” was agreed on by Israel and the PLO pursuant to the Oslo Accords.95% of the West Bank Arabs live in Areas A and B and their daily lives are under the total administration and control of the PLO since the Palestinian Authority was disbanded by Abbas in January 2013. The PLO has total security control in A and shares security control in B with Israel. Israel has total administrative and security control in C.Israel is entitled to and will continue to take responsibility for the security of Jews living in the West Bank.Jews were given the legal right to settle in the West Bank under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. They did so for decades until they were driven out in 1947 and not able to return there until 1967.There are Arab roads only in the West Bank that Jews are not allowed to use. Jews are also forbidden from entering Area “A”. Selling land to Jews is forbidden by the PLO under pain of death. The PLO runs the daily lives of 95% of the West Bank Arabs and Hamas runs the daily lives of 100% of the Gazan Arabs. They have been under occupation – and subjugation – by these two evil groups for the last ten years and given no say in their future or any opportunity to elect others to lead them following the disastrous political decisions of their leaders over the past ten years. Hamas and the PLO do not accept the continued existence of a Jewish State and call for its disappearance. The narratives did not begin in 1948 – they began in about 1917. How do you make peace with an enemy that has been obsessed with not recognising any Jewish national rights in former Palestine for the last 100 years?David Singer (2016)

Telling the Truth

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The Jews of the Holy Land ... are surrounded by hostile states 650 times their territory and sixty times their population. Yet their last, best hope of ending two millennia of international persecution - the State of Israel - has somehow survived. When, during the Second World War, the island of Malta came through three terrible years of bombardment and destruction, it was rightly awarded the George Cross for bravery. Today, Israel should be awarded a similar decoration for defending democracy, tolerance and Western values against a murderous onslaught that has lasted twenty times as long.Andrew Roberts (historian)

A voice of courage & reason

He knows, y'know

An Aussie demo against BDS

On the left, black people are usually allowed to define what’s racism; women can define sexism; Muslims are trusted to define Islamophobia. But when Jews call out something as antisemitic, leftist non-Jews feel curiously entitled to tell Jews they’re wrong, that they are exaggerating or lying or using it as a decoy tactic – and to then treat them to a long lecture on what anti-Jewish racism really is. Jonathan Freedland (The Guardian, 29 April 2016)

An awkward fact for some!

Socialist thought was tainted from its very origins with the heavy baggage of anti-Jewish stereotypes. Robert Wistrich, From Ambivalence to Betrayal:The Left, the Jews, and Israel (2012)

BDS hypocrisy!

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Want more?

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Israel is understandably obsessed with security, but its greatest security lies ultimately not in the Israeli Defence Forces, but in political warfare.... Most of the world is not deeply interested in what happens in Israel, and probably does not want to be deluged with legalistic defences of particular actions. What it wants is a clear, calm, repeated case. It is a case – aimed more at public opinion than at foreign ministries – about freedom, democracy, a Western way of life and the need for the whole of the free world to fight terrorism. Sometimes you hear Israelis say: “It doesn’t matter what we say. The whole world is against us.” You can see why they say it, for they are indeed unfairly treated. But when they say it, they are uttering a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they won’t say what needs saying, no one else will say it for them. Charles Moore (2010)

Once again the armies of the Arab nations are coordinating their military efforts to destroy Israel - whatever they say about wishing merely to regain the lost territories.... [I]f the present Arab offensive had been launched at the pre-1967 frontiers, then the Israelis would indeed have been fighting to avoid annihilation. It seems now that the Israelis were right to maintain the ceasefire lines gained in 1967, and that to do so is the only guarantee of their continued safety.Alan Sillitoe (The Times, 11 October 1973)

A nuclear Iran threatens our existence

Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam... In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel, no place for Christians, Jews or Muslims who don’t share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone... [T]he greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can’t let that happen...[T]he days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves....Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But ... I know that America stands with Israel... You stand with Israel, because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history’s horrors. Bibi Netanyahu (12 Adar 5775; 3 March 2015)

The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions, of people, and there is no refugee problem.... [N]o one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.... Other nations - when they are defeated - survive and recover, but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.... [A]s it goes with Israel, so it will go with all of us. Should Israel perish the holocaust will be upon us.Eric Hoffer (1968)

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My archived Tuesday blogs at Elder of Ziyon

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אם תרצו , אין זו אגדה

Most of the present Arab countries were given their freedom after the 1914-18 War, or after the 1939-45 War.... Yet to listen to Arab spokesmen one might think that they had been cheated ... because they have not also got Israel. Israel is only .2 per cent of the land where Arab States have been established. Surely no fair-minded man can begrudge the Jews their own promised land when it is remembered that for every 2 acres that went to make up Israel, 1,000 acres became Arab.... Why is there an Arab refugee problem? The oil-rich countries have the money. There is no shortage of land, and the Israelis have the technical knowledge to show how it could be developed and made fertile. Bring those things together and the problem could be solved. 3rd Earl of Balfour (1968)

January 7, 2015 has already its place in the history of infamy, but also will be the date when the defenders of freedom and democracy will rise and pay tribute to those who died for their freedom and ours. Therefore, we must not forget on which side we are and who are our allies in the defense of the West and its values. Whether we admit it or not, the West is at war with an enemy who will not stop to destroy us...The State of Israel boasts a commandment that, in one of the darkest hours in the fight for liberty Winston Churchill taught: "Never give up". Israel has proven to be a key ally in the fight against Islamism and also an example of how a liberal democracy can resist the jihadist stake and thrive as a Western nation ... Not only France but also all the West should look to Israel to defeat Islamism...friendsofisraelinitiative.org

[I]t’s impossible to believe that an active antisemite wouldn’t – if only opportunistically – seek out somewhere to nestle in the manifold pleats of Israel-bashing, whether in generally diffuse anti-Zionism, or in more specific Boycott and Divestment Campaigns, Israeli Apartheid Weeks, End the Occupation movements and the like....[T]ell me that not a single Jew-hater finds the activity congenial, that criticising Israel can “never” be an expression of Jew-hating, not even when it takes the form of accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs...Howard Jacobson (The Independent, 27 May 2013)

What has happened to the 800,000 Jews who lived for over 2000 years in the Arab lands ...? Where are they in Arab society today? You dare talk of racism when I can point with pride ... to the fact that it is as natural for an Arab to serve in public office in Israel as it is incongruous to think of a Jew serving in any public office in an Arab country, indeed being admitted to many of them. Chaim Herzog (6 Kislev 5736; 10 November 1975)

I stand with Israel, I stand with the Jews.... I defend their right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time. And, disgusted by the antisemitism of many Europeans ... I am shamed by this shame that dishonours my country and Europe.Oriana Fallaci

For Western countries to side with those who question Israel's legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israel's vital security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values, rather than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude. Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is lost and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Jose Maria Aznar

Israel is, for us, a normal and a special country. A normal country, because it is just like any other democracy. A special country, because the Jewish culture, which eventually became the Judeo-Christian culture of the dignity of man, is the conceptual foundation of liberalism and democracy. This is why attacking Israel is tantamount to attacking Europe and the West. This is also why disputing Israel's legitimacy and its right to existence means questioning democracy. And this is why we are Friends of Israel. By defending Israel, we are defending ourselves.Marcello Pera

Israel ... is beset today by a unique combination of threats. It must defend its people from attack while defending its very right to exist. No other nation in the world faces this dual challenge. To deny Israel's right to confront some of the world's most vicious terrorist groups in order to ensure the safety of its citizens is to corrode international norms from within ... The assault on Israel is one part of a more general assault on the West, on democracy, and on the moral and cultural heritage that grew from the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome ... Should these efforts succeed, similar efforts will certainly be turned against other western democracies.George Weigel

Apart from America itself, Israel still stands as the world's brightest model of national self-liberation based on ideals of individual responsibility and human freedom. Israel's ability to withstand Arab attempts to destroy it in one of the longest and most lop-sided wars ever fought serves as an indelible testimony to the strength of democratic culture.... We know from the past that the West paid dearly for ignoring Hitler's war against the Jews. One can only hope it will not pay as dearly for having ignored or underestimated for so long the Arab war against Israel and the Jews. Ruth Wisse

The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)

I am duty-bound to defend freedom, culture, peaceful coexistence, the civic education of children, and all the principles that the Tablets of the Law have rendered universal. Principles which Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. This means that, since I am a Gentile, a journalist and a leftist, I have a triple moral commitment to Israel. Because, if Israel were to be vanquished, modernity, culture and freedom would also be crushed. Even though the world has failed to wake up to this fact, Israel's struggle is the world's struggle. Pilar Rahola

About Me

I'm a writer/researcher, with many academic books and articles under my own name. Daphne Anson is my blogging alias. Combining the names of two ships, it's a moniker of special significance to me - I'm a naval history buff. I use an alias owing to a perceived need to keep my blogging and professional identities separate. An Aussie, I've long been interested in
politics and foreign affairs, having studied International Relations in the USA and Britain for my first degree, and I also hold a doctorate. I began blogging in response to the exponential rise in antisemitism and hostility to Israel in the wake of the Mavi Marmara affair.

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The opinions expressed by those providing comments on the Daphne Anson blog are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Daphne Anson. Daphne Anson is not responsible for the content of the comments. This blog's posts sometimes include links to other websites. Such linked websites will have their own terms and conditions of use and you should familiarise yourself with them. The Daphne Anson blog * does not sponsor, endorse or necessarily approve of any material posted on this website or on websites linked from or to this website; * does not make any warranties or representations regarding the quality, accuracy, merchantability or fitness for purpose of any material on websites linked from or to this website; * does not make any warranties or representations that material on other websites to which this website is linked does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any person anywhere in the world; * does not authorise the infringement of any intellectual property rights contained in material in other websites by linking this website to those other websites.

The spiritual awakening which Jews experienced almost without exception last June must not be allowed to become a sealed and finished episode.... Support must be rallied among men of goodwill and their governments if we are to reach that secure and just peace in the attainment of which Israel has never ceased to believe. President Zalman Shazar (1968)

Our judicial system is one of the best in the whole world. Our democracy is the only one in the Middle East.... Just imagine, what would have happened if the Arabs had, like us, accepted the Partition resolution? There would be a Palestinian State living side by side in peace, security, and, I can add, prosperity with the State of Israel, 62 years later. [C]ome to Israel, and realize how small Israel is and what a wonderful place it is. Diplomat Gabriella Shalev (2010)

The choice before us is not between victory and defeat, but between victory and annihilation. We therefore have not the slightest intention of allowing the re-creation of the conditions of vulnerability in which we found ourselves, abandoned and alone, in the summer of 1967. Diplomat Michael Comay (1970)